Ventura County News Roundup

CAMARILLO : Traffic Safety Plans Backed by Council

Eight months after a 9-year-old boy was killed while crossing Mission Oaks Boulevard near Las Colinas School in Camarillo, the City Council has endorsed a number of traffic safety improvements in that area.

Under a resolution the council adopted unanimously Wednesday, the no-parking zones near the intersection of Clearwater and Fieldcrest drives will be extended.

When Brian Arimura was hit by a van in May, Camarillo traffic officers and the Ventura County district attorney's office concluded that the driver was not at fault because the boy stepped in front of the van and the driver did not have enough time to stop.

The council also voiced approval for several other traffic safety changes, recommended by the Streets and Transportation Committee, that the council members would like other municipal departments to make.

The committee recommended that Mission Oaks Boulevard be widened in front of Las Colinas School, that a crossing guard be moved from the intersection of Lantana and Coe streets to the Clearwater and Fieldcrest intersection, and that the Pleasant Valley Parks and Recreation District build a parking lot near the school that could be used as a safe place to pick up and drop off children.

The committee developed these suggestions after city, school and PTA officials met in November to discuss traffic safety.